patience

[lotsofplants]

Ecclesiastes 3
1 TO every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

And I am not patient.

Comments

[pathdancer.livejournal.com]

Are you serious?
You tat lace and grow orchids. That's not patient? Good heavens, it takes patience just to grow mold, much less anything as lovely as an orchid!

If I may quote from Princess Bride: I do not think that word means what you think it means!

[plantae.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about this. I think a lot of it is that there are different kinds of patience. One can learn, for instance, to be patient with other living things, through love or resignation, for they will go at their own speed and perform at their own level. :) And one can learn to be patient with tedious tasks, watching a gradual accumulation of progress and knowing that one is slowly approaching some goal. But things that are not entirely in one's control, yet which one has some feeling of responsibility for, are different from the types of patience I have. There are things I want *now*, despite the fact that I have no way to get them, and may not, in fact, be ready for them. And there are things I cannot change, and will never be able to change (unless someone grants me those five minutes of omnipotence :), but which must be changed. And to a certain extent, that lack of patience or discontent with the current conditions is a positive motivation, and to a certain extent it is a source of frustration bordering on despair. Both are difficult to deal with.